10 Signs You Have Anxiety
Anxiety impacts everyone from time to time. It’s normal to worry or fixate on the worst-case scenario every once in a while. However, people suffering from anxiety disorders experience frequent, intense, and excessive worry.
Anxiety disorders are often complicated and hard to diagnose without seeing a counselor or psychologist. However, there are common signs and symptoms that you or a loved one might be dealing with anxiety.
Erratic Sleep
It’s common to have trouble sleeping once in a while. However, if you can’t remember the last time you had a good night’s sleep, it could be due to anxiety. People grappling with an anxiety disorder often have difficulty falling or staying asleep. They often stay awake, tossing and turning and thinking about their fears or worries. Most people with general anxiety disorders also suffer from insomnia and poor sleeping patterns.
Excessive Worrying
Do you find yourself worrying all the time? Are you constantly thinking about the worst-case scenario or that something terrible is going to happen? People with anxiety worry all of the time. They worry about whether or not they made the right decisions, and they even worry about things that might go wrong. This excessive worrying often leads to a disruption in your sleep patterns, and can cause insomnia.
Irrational fears
We are all afraid of something. From spiders to a fear of flying and everything in between, irrational fears include anxiety disproportionate to the risk of the actual event. Often related to a phobia and unlikely to actually cause harm, irrational fears can become debilitating, greatly impacting your quality of life.
Inability to concentrate
If your worries or fears make it difficult to concentrate at work or school, you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder. Individuals with anxiety might also find it challenging to spend time with their family or friends. They may also have trouble following a conversation because their mind wanders back to their source of worry or fear.
Expecting terrible things to happen
Do you feel like you are waiting in the calm before the storm? Or perhaps, you feel like things are too good to be true, and you’re waiting for something terrible to happen? Individuals with anxiety disorders often live in a state of suspension where they are waiting for something to go terribly wrong.
Constant nausea or pain
When left unmanaged, anxiety can cause a host of physical medical problems. Anxiety causes the muscles to tense up, leading to pain and stiffness in almost any area of the body. Additionally, anxiety can cause digestive issues such as constipation, acid reflux, or diarrhea.
Compulsive behaviors (OCD)
Ranging in severity, individuals suffering from anxiety disorders often deal with obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD). Obsessive-compulsive disorder is characterized by unreasonable thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead to compulsive behaviors. Obsessiveness can materialize in both mental (overthinking) and physical (e.g., repetitive cleaning) actions. As your anxiety increases, these actions can interfere with daily life.
Self-consciousness
Social anxiety can cause an individual to feel self-conscious in a group setting. If you find yourself feeling self-conscious on a regular basis, particularly with close friends or family, you may be suffering from anxiety. Individuals with social anxiety often wonder, “why are they looking at me?” “Did I say the wrong thing?” Do they like me or even want me here?” When left unmanaged, these feelings can leave you feeling unworthy, isolated, and depressed.
Negative thoughts
While it’s natural to feel pessimistic from time to time, individuals with anxiety often get stuck in a pattern of negative thoughts. Ranging from finances and relationships to body image and self-worth, people suffering from anxiety have frequent, recurring negative thoughts. If you can’t find anything positive in any given situation, even if it’s a hard lesson learned, you might be suffering from an anxiety disorder.
Mood swings and irritability
Anxiety often causes an individual to become moody or easily irritated by things that do not seem to bother most people. This excessive agitation is a sign of underlying anxiety.
Panic attacks
Panic attacks are frightening. They are often described as a heart attack, accompanied by chest pains, heart palpitations, sweating, shortness of breath, and dizziness. Panic attacks are a sign of severe anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
ClearMinds Center
If you recognize these symptoms in yourself or a loved one, you do not have to go through these challenging times alone. At Clearminds, we work with individuals to help determine the root cause of their anxiety to help them on their path to living a life free of excessive worry and fear.
Contact a member of our team to learn more about Anxiety Therapy.
